So, the lack of a grain engine for the octatrack has been bothering me ever since it’s release. So much that I’ve even emailed them and offered to develop it for free, but to no avail.
So, I think it’s time we Octatrack users tell Elektron that we really want an granular machine/engine for the octatrack!
So I decided to create a petition!
Help make this a reality guys! I know we can do it!
You can do 8-voice granular synthesis on the octatrack. When implementing delay and for example the samplechain slice techniques it can go as crazy as any hardware sampler can.
For advanced granular techniques, such as described in the recommended Curtis Road’s book ‘microsound’ you’d need a computer and software tools!
I know, but I don’t think one should need a computer for this. I think the octa should be able to handle it, actually I bet it can!
I would love a Granular Machine, and also asked for it as my first FR back in 2011.
Pretty please, Elektron?
I almost want to say it was said on EU that this won’t happen, but I can’t remember or find it.
I almost wonder if, while the DSPs themselves can handle it, Elektron isn’t confident the DSPs can handle 8 tracks worth of granular mayhem + effects without sputtering into oblivion. Or perhaps it’s a RAM issue, and not processing power.
Hey if it makes you happy… why not… I am sure I could use something like that and have fun… a petition… hmmm… neh I think thats a bit much…
I do wonder though… since you make the offer to write the code yourself for free for elektron… did you show m some proof you could actually do it? show some shiny
vst that does the trick?? if the answer is yes… can I get a copy to play with…
If I was elektron (and I am not) I would be scared to death to give my code to some dude who says he could… and I doubt that you can program for the octatrack without the complete codebase of it…
Good luck on your queste buddy…
somewhat unrelated: I’d be already happy being able to punch in an arbitrary amount of slices (or limited to 256 or whatevs)
Can’t the OT basically do this right now? Sure it’s not a proper engine but it does quite a bit in this direction.
Can you explain what this would do that the OT can’t do now with clever manipulation?
Well, in a way it can, with the timestretch-algorithm, but the abscense of a grain-size parameter limits the usage, adding just this parameter would allow for:
a) better timestretching depending on source material
b) radical transformations of the formants and timbre of the sample
It’s kind of like having a filter without the frequency parameter…
It’s just a friendly way of telling them there’s an actual interest. I don’t think they’re aware the user-base wants this, otherwise they would have included it in the original os.
Yeah of course I sent them some info about previous projects I’ve done.
I said I’d be willing to sign an NDA, which would bind me to whatever legal contract they’d feel comfortable, plus I’m a swedish citizen and resident which simplifies things.
Well, in a way it can, with the timestretch-algorithm, but the abscense of a grain-size parameter limits the usage, adding just this parameter would allow for:
a) better timestretching depending on source material
b) radical transformations of the formants and timbre of the sample
It’s kind of like having a filter without the frequency parameter…
It’s just a friendly way of telling them there’s an actual interest. I don’t think they’re aware the user-base wants this, otherwise they would have included it in the original os.
Yeah of course I sent them some info about previous projects I’ve done.
I said I’d be willing to sign an NDA, which would bind me to whatever legal contract they’d feel comfortable, plus I’m a swedish citizen and resident which simplifies things.[/quote]
Interesting. Considering that most of my music is of the ambient/noise/post rock paradigm, I can definitely see the utility of this.
Signed.
I’m definitely interested in this as well. I’m curious if the Elektron team thinks it would be feasible to implement.
Fair enough… I am more a blunt-person but hey friendly goes a long way… the misses is very friendly
and she gets things done just like me… I still doubt they keen on sharing it, but… I do hope they do something.
call me weird. but I dont need another reverb… I want really extreme sample manipulation… thats why i bought my octatrack… I got other samplers that do “the normal sampling” just fine… so grain machines and vocoders and weird combi’s of them… bring it on…
resampling multiple tracks while using all 8 flex recorders still causes lag afaik. 
@bandersong
yeah with looping slices plus rate and re-trig… i dunno. tbh, i like that it’s open ended.
if you pre slice a file you can record into, move, re-size and trigger slices on the fly. record into another track. they don’t let you add slices into audio you’re recording (although i’m pretty sure you used to be able to) i asked and they said it was on purpose. yeah it’d be very fun to move multiple slices on multiple tracks at once…
you can setup overlapping slices to mimmic grain sizes and sequence/play them. or use the crossfader. 
if i remember right, you can’t add a slice inside a slice you have to manually reposition it, which is a drag.
so a “add granular slices” option that added overlapping slices that incrementally increased in size would be nice and save busy work.
the LFOs can be setup to give different fade options between your slice samples. they don’t seem to work quite right at audio rates, i’d expect more added harmonics, but i’m not sure. it’s nice to have pictures anyway. i think the different sample crossfading / interpolation methods are what window functions in other granulars do, i can never remember what they do based on the names, so they’re kinda “worthless”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Window_function#A_list_of_window_functions
i think the main difference between the octatrack and a “real” granular synth is poly 
i’m not sure there is a such a demand for granular that people would give up tracks. maybe?
…oh damn i need to see what happens if you set an LFO to modulate between different slice “grains” !
Fair enough… I am more a blunt-person but hey friendly goes a long way… the misses is very friendly
and she gets things done just like me… I still doubt they keen on sharing it, but… I do hope they do something.
call me weird. but I dont need another reverb… I want really extreme sample manipulation… thats why i bought my octatrack… I got other samplers that do “the normal sampling” just fine… so grain machines and vocoders and weird combi’s of them… bring it on…
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see, if we had envelope followers we could do vocoding and side chaining and a million other things. that’s the one feature i’d like .
i’m not against a granular machine, tbh i like the focused machines from the machinedrum and mono machine too. 
although i’m not sure how elektron could pull off a single granular machine that was their style and not a whole host of them, like the different FM machines on the monomachine or whatever.
I’d love to see a granular machine or effect in the Octatrack. Having more variety with texture and tone with different material would open up the Octatrack’s capabilities. Especially with different instrument sounds. At the moment samples can only be pushed so far before they just loose there character.
One approach:
Load anything into a flex machine. Set Loop to ON.
Set a trig on every step.
Set a fader scene to control the start parameter. Hit play. Experiment.
Relative grain size can be set with the tempo or pattern speed multiplier.
A more detailed grain exploration is possible by loading a shorter sample or by using the Trim window in the editor.
Other variables exist here, for example Pitch, Rate, or Retrig settings can unlock new territory.
As with anything on the OT, once you find the magic it is easy to save.
A good technique for timestretch feedback but it’s still limited in terms of controlling the tone. Good for when using beats but when used with other instruments sounds they all start sounding the same.
Very happy to see this thread. I also dream of a granular machine and keep asking them for one. It occurs to me that one limit is voices/polyphony. On a software granular synth you can use multiple voices to get wonderful swarming effects, add some jitter, freeze playback and it’s a massive pad. If the OT is monophonic, doesn’t that mean only one grain at a time per track?
PS–to hear the kind of angular sampling I do in software: http://buddhacurtain.bandcamp.com
I’ve been holding my breath for a granular machine. I would be happy if they added a way to crossfade loops at the near sample level. C’mon Elektron!
A good technique for timestretch feedback but it’s still limited in terms of controlling the tone. Good for when using beats but when used with other instruments sounds they all start sounding the same.[/quote]
Not sure what you are referring to. There is no feedback here, we are playing a tiny controlled snippet of a wave. The result can then be used to generate sounds in the spirit of a graintable. To each his own.
Interesting thread. What I like most though is that there are quite feasible suggestions coming up now for the OT that I do hope Elektron take notice of.
It’d be brilliant to see a future update add some extra features (granular, vocoder, etc). I don’t think the suggestions are beyond the OT’s capabilities either.